Time had stopped. The world was at a standstill. The silence was so deafening that it felt as if the slightest sound could shatter existence. 

Zulfiqar had been sitting at dinner when it had happened. His mother had been bringing a bowl of salad and his father had been commenting on how wonderful dinner looked.

Then the world shook and he felt as if his body had been struck by lightning and he was drowning at sea. He tried to swim but his body refused to respond to him. As he tried to use his eyes to observe his plight only darkness greeted him. The only thing he knew was that he could feel an enormous pressure around him.

He felt panic start to set in and tried to calm himself. He tried opening his mouth to take in and understand what was around him and to his surprise he realized that he could breathe. Taking in as deep a breath as he could, he slowly exhaled and tried to relax his body. He felt his muscles gradually relax and start to regain movement. He tried blinking his eyes hoping to see something but sight itself seemed to be fleeing from him. As his muscles started to rejuvenate, he tried to move. The moment he tried, it was as though an invisible force had grabbed him and wrenched him out of the sea.

He slowly opened his eyes and sighed a breath of relief when he saw that he was back home again. A gasp of shock immediately followed and he started to feel fear when he realized that his family had come to a stop.

Zulfiqar slid out of his seat and approached his mother. He reached out his hand to touch hers, but it went right through her and touched the salad bowl she held. The bowl slipped out of her hand and stopped in mid air. It was then that he realised that it was not his family that had stopped but time itself.

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His mind just couldn't wrap around this. Maybe his parents were playing some elaborate joke. He had to make sure whatever this was, was real. He rushed out of the dining room and up the stairs to his room. He hurriedly opened the door and was relieved to see his wife sleeping on the bed. He approched her and tried to caress her head but his hand passed right through her. His heart clenched. He ran onto the balcony and as he observed his jaw slowly started to lower. 

The world was at a standstill.The cars had stopped , a flock of birds had stopped midflight, the neighbours cat was stopped in midair as it jumped down and as he looked on a dreadful feeling seemed to well up inside him. A feeling that was a mixture of despair and loneliness. There seemed to be a deep pit in his stomach which seemed to pull him down. He remembered his wife and his yet unborn child. He felt his knees touch the ground as tears welled up in his eyes.

"No". He thought to himself.

"There must be a way out". He thought out loud.

Getting himself off the ground, he returned to the dining table and sat himself back down.

He tried to concentrate, trying to get back the feeling from before. He tried to imagine the dark sea and to his amazent, there it was. It was as if it had never gone. He relaxed his body and tried move towards it and the force from before returned and wrenched him back into the sea.

Before he could open his eyes there was a loud noise of breaking glass. " Oops" he and his mother said at the same time. When he opened his eyes his mother was staring at him.

"And why are you saying oops Zulfiqar?" It was as if his mother somehow knew whose fault it was like she always did.

"Oh! Just reflex." He quickly replied before he could get into any trouble. Just as the words left his mouth, a wave of fatigue washed over him and he lay his head down and fell asleep right there on the table.